How your website Could Be Prone to ADA Accessibility Lawsuits
Marketing Land reports that the majority of lawsuits about compliance with the Americans with Disability Act get aimed at smaller and medium operation businesses.
ADA means website accessibility has become a massive issue for businesses, and making sure you're compliant can prevent huge costs. No company is safe when it comes to litigation, with more than 2,000 lawsuits filed during 2018 and 2019. Surprisingly perhaps, most of those suits were aimed at smaller businesses rather than big players.
You can get hit with an ADA lawsuit no matter what sector you operate within. So far, there have been high profile cases in:
Protecting your business
The list of sued companies is long, and it's essential you take steps to avoid litigation. Work with your web developers to make sure compliance is covered before it's too late.
ADA means website accessibility has become a massive issue for businesses, and making sure you're compliant can prevent huge costs. No company is safe when it comes to litigation, with more than 2,000 lawsuits filed during 2018 and 2019. Surprisingly perhaps, most of those suits were aimed at smaller businesses rather than big players.
You can get hit with an ADA lawsuit no matter what sector you operate within. So far, there have been high profile cases in:
- Real estate: A real estate company got sued by a plaintiff who claimed their website had barriers for blind users.
- Healthcare: Obviously, there's a greater probability a disabled user might frequently access healthcare, so websites need to be accessible. Many healthcare services have been the target of ADA lawsuits already, including one provider who got charged with having more than a hundred websites for facilities and hospitals which didn't comply for people with blindness.
- Automotive industry: One blind resident of Florida brought lawsuits against fifty local car dealers because the sites didn't work with his screen-reading software.
- Education: Many educational establishments have hot problems with ADA. One blind man sued fifty colleges because of screen-reader issues. Another case related to accessibility for the hearing-impaired. One plaintiff raised a lawsuit in 2015 against MIT, Harvard because its online teaching platforms weren't set up for accessibility to those with deafness.
- Finance: Organizations that have already had problems with ADA include Bank of America, HSBC, First Union, and Washington Mutual.
Protecting your business
The list of sued companies is long, and it's essential you take steps to avoid litigation. Work with your web developers to make sure compliance is covered before it's too late.
